brisbanetimes.com.au urban affairs reporter and blogger

A 20-storey development behind Woolloongabba's Chalk Hotel is set to be approved.

An application to develop a key tract of land behind Woolloongabba's Chalk Hotel has been carried at council, paving the way for a multi-million dollar mixed-use project spanning two residential towers, a hotel and a swag of new retail tenancies.

The tallest building on the site will stand at 20 storeys, 10 less than initially proposed by the applicant, BT Hotels and Property Group director Steve Hammond in May last year.

Another apartment tower rising to 18 storeys and a hotel tower at 12 storeys have also been carried as part of a plan councillors, at this morning's Neighbourhood Planning and Development Assessment committee meeting, agreed would dramatically change the Gabba precinct.

Local councillor Helen Abrahams voiced her support for the scaled-back version of the DA, agreeing there was need for more dwellings in the area, but voted against the motion to carry.

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The DA received 207 submissions from the public of which 187 were valid. Only 12 were in support, but 184 of the 195 objections were in pro forma style.

Locals who spoke out against the development at a council meeting in February this year raised concerns about the noise, extra traffic and change to the lifestyle entailed.

Greg Manning, whose family's home shares a property boundary with the site, said he was particularly concerned about the likely length of the construction period.

“Pollution, noise and lack of privacy are bad for the physical and the mental health of all of our family members when the kids come inside," he said.

“A long construction period exposes my family to the unpredictable and disruptive movement of workers and vehicles and, once it is completed, this application proposes low-rise villas leering over our back fence.”

But it was the committee's consensus today that the benefits to Brisbane at large outweighed the immediate costs.

In particular, committee chairman councillor Amanda Cooper said the development would help address concerns about affordable housing in the inner-city in the future.

But Cr Cooper acknowledged the higher density brought by the development would alter the character of the precinct, but said the Neighbourhood Plan approved for the southern part of neighbouring Kangaroo Point earlier this year would mitigate the impact.

“We locked quite a bit of character housing up at Kangaroo Point,” she said.

“This is a great place for people who want to live close to the CBD. If we don't create opportunities we are going to drive up the cost of houses in this city.”

The sprawling development will see 17 lots at the juncture of Reid and Stanley streets merged into two, with some post-1946 extensions at the rear of the Chalk Hotel demolished to make way for three towers.